Back protective cover for tablet device

ABSTRACT

A back protective cover for a tablet device is provided which is capable of preventing a touch-screen cover from coming off the tablet device. According to the present invention, a back protective cover which covers a back of a tablet device is provided, the back protective cover comprising a separation preventing section configured to cover an attaching/detaching section of a touch-screen cover of a detachable type, the touch-screen cover covering a touch screen of the tablet device, so as to prevent separation between the touch-screen cover and the tablet device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. national stage application which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §371 to International Patent Application No.:PCT/JP2012/063262, filed on May 24, 2012, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119, to Japanese Patent Application No.: 2011-003137U, filedJun. 3, 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated by referenceherein their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related to a back protective cover for a tabletdevice.

BACKGROUND ART

One of the accessories for a tablet device placed on the market by AppleInc. is a touch-screen cover which can be attached to and detached fromthe tablet device by means of a built-in magnet and can protect a touchscreen of the tablet device. Further, the touch-screen cover functionsas a keyboard stand when folded, and thus, is very convenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

The above-mentioned touch-screen cover is very convenient as notedabove, however, the inventor of the present invention has found, whileusing it, that the touch-screen cover sometimes comes off the tabletdevice when grasping only the touch-screen cover and lifting it. Inorder to prevent the problem of coming off of the touch-screen cover,making the magnet more powerful or fixing the touch-screen cover to thetablet device with an adhesive or the like might be effective. However,since one of the attractive features of the touch-screen cover is thatit can be easily detached when it is not needed, making the touch-screencover difficult to come off by such methods will detract the attractivefeature of the touch-screen cover.

Such a problem arises not only in the combination of the tablet devicemade by Apple Inc. and the above-mentioned touch-screen cover for thistablet device but also in a combination of a tablet device other thanthe tablet device made by Apple Inc. and a touch-screen cover attachableto and detachable from this tablet device.

The present invention is made in view of such a circumstance andprovides a back protective cover for a tablet device which can prevent atouch-screen cover from coming off the tablet device.

Means to Solve the Problem

According to the present invention, a back protective cover which coversa back of a tablet device is provided, the back protective covercomprising a separation preventing section which is configured to coveran attaching/detaching section of a touch-screen cover of a detachabletype, the touch-screen cover covering a touch screen of the tabletdevice, so as to prevent separation between the touch-screen cover andthe tablet device.

While a back protective cover is sometimes attached to a back of atablet device in order to prevent a casing of the tablet device frombeing scratched, the inventor of the present invention has found that aproblem of coming off of a touch-screen cover can be prevented by usinga back protective cover that is provided with a separation preventingsection shaped to cover an attaching/detaching section used in attachingthe touch-screen cover to the tablet device, and has completed theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a back protective cover according to anembodiment of the present invention is attached to a tablet device towhich a touch-screen cover has been attached, where (a) is a plan view,(b) is a back view and (c) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1( a).

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of region B in FIG. 2.

EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereafter an embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The following embodiment is only forillustrative purposes and the scope of the present invention is notlimited to the one illustrated by the following embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a touch-screen cover (e.g., “iPad SmartCover”) 3 is provided on a touch-screen side of a tablet device (e.g.,“iPad2”) 1. The touch-screen cover 3 is of a detachable type andcomprises a main section 3 a configured to cover a touch screen (notshown) of the tablet device 1 and an attaching/detaching section 3 bconfigured to allow the touch-screen cover 3 to be detachably attachedto the tablet device 1. The attaching/detaching section 3 b has abuilt-in magnet and the attaching/detaching section 3 b is fixed to aside surface of the tablet device 1 by means of magnetic force. The mainsection 3 a is rotatable with respect to the attaching/detaching section3 b at a hinge portion 3 c, so that the main section 3 a can be openedand closed with the attaching/detaching section 3 b fixed to the tabletdevice 1.

A back protective cover 5 is provided on a back side of the tabletdevice 1. The back protective cover 5 is of a detachable type andcomprises a main section 5 a configured to cover a back surface (andside surfaces) of the tablet device 1 and a separation preventingsection 5 b which extends from the main section 5 a. The main section 5a can be fixed to the tablet device 1. The separation preventing section5 b is bent so as to surround the attaching/detaching section 3 b andprevents the attaching/detaching section 3 b from being separated fromthe tablet device 1. Therefore, by using the back protective cover 5 ofthis embodiment, the touch-screen cover 3 never comes off the tabletdevice 1 even if only the touch-screen cover 3 is lifted, and thus, theproblem of falling of the tablet device 1 or the like can be prevented.Further, in a case of using a back protective cover without theseparation preventing section 5 b, a surrounding area of theattaching/detaching section 3 b is exposed so that the tablet device 1may be scratched in the area, however, by using the back protectivecover 5 of this embodiment, which has the separation preventing section5 b, the surrounding area of the attaching/detaching section 3 b is alsocovered by the back protective cover 5, and thereby the problem ofscratching can be prevented.

The back protective cover 5 is preferably made of polycarbonate. Withthis material the back protective cover 5 can be transparent, so that alogo and the like provided on the back surface of the tablet device 1can be visually recognized in a state where the back protective cover 5is attached.

Description Of Numerals

1: tablet device, 3: touch-screen cover, 3 a: main section oftouch-screen cover, 3 b: attaching/detaching section of touch-screencover, 3 c: hinge portion of touch-screen cover, 5: back protectivecover, 5 a: main section of back protective cover, 5 b: separationpreventing section of back protective cover

The invention claimed is:
 1. A back protective cover which covers a backof a tablet device, comprising: a main section configured to cover aback of a tablet device; and a separation preventing section whichextends from the main section, wherein the separation preventing sectionis configured to cover an attaching/detaching section of a touch-screencover of a detachable type, the touch-screen cover covering a touchscreen of the tablet device, so as to prevent separation between thetouch-screen cover and the tablet device, and wherein the backprotective cover is of a detachable type, and the back protective coverand the touch-screen cover are different members detachable from eachother, and wherein the separation preventing section is bent so as tosurround the attaching/detaching section such that the back protectivecover must be detached from the touch screen cover prior to detachingthe touch screen cover from the tablet device.
 2. The back protectivecover of claim 1, wherein the attaching/detaching section is provided ona side surface of the tablet device.